Thursday, May 31, 2012

Pretty Much Everything

In December 2011, my favourite photographic team Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin released a retrospective of their work through the publishing house Taschen. The three volume set entitled "Pretty Much Everything" has been released with a limited edition run of 1200 copies and comes enclosed in a massive slipcase cover with the image - Me Kissing Vinoodh (Eternally) printed on it. As far as retrospectives are concerned, "Pretty Much Everything" is an apt title given the voluminous nature of the two books of photos enclosed within, which feature a total of 666 images spanning over two decades of the pairs prolific works.

Leafing through the two photographic volumes is like taking a step back in fashion/modelling history given the number of iconic images that the pair have collaborated on for publications including Paris Vogue, V Magazine, Visionnaire, Purple, W and not to mention countless high profile advertising campaigns. The third book in the set contains essays and interviews on the Dutch duo covering their inspirations and philosophical musings. "Pretty Much Everything" comes with a hefty price tag of $700.00 per copy and is worth every cent if you are an avid fan of fashion photography. For those of us who are scrimping away our pennies or rather hoping for a copy to mysteriously appear under our Christmas trees this year, here are a few snippets from the book as well as some images from the duo's iconic Vogue Paris 2003 Calendar.